The Truth
by StawHatCerberus
Summary: a deeper side to the reactions of Nora and Kazuma when they learned the truth about the Dark Liege. Reviews are more than welcomed!


The Truth

"Well well well, I finally found you Mr. Cerberus."

"It's you! The snitch!" Nora shouted holding Dagon's head, the snitch's familiar spirit, underwater. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I said I was looking for you Mr. Cerberus. I got some information for you that's free of charge."

"Liar! Nothing's free, whether in the human or demon world." Nora replied brushing his long silver locks out of his face.

"Tsk...So cynical, I dig it. I can use time magic; let me show you the past. Of course I'm gonna want to know what you think of it all…after you learn the truth." After a few hand signs, the water in the little pond that Nora had fallen in started to surround him and in just a few seconds Nora was struggling to hold his breath as he was dragged underwater by an unseen source. It seemed that the harder he struggled to reach the surface the faster he was being pulled under. Although he fought to stay calm, Nora could feel the grip of panic slowly start to squeeze his heart as the light began to fade, leaving him in total darkness.

No way. No way was he gonna let something as dumb as water defeat him. If only Kazuma was here, then at least he'd have a better chance. As if summoned by his thoughts, Nora crashed into Kazuma's chest effectively expelling what little air he had left. Well that was just fantastic. Not only did he have to find a way out now he had to fight to stay conscious. Too bad that was already a losing battle. It seemed that the short battle with the resistance leader had taken a bit of a toll on him; he barely had enough strength to swim let alone stay awake. The surface had to be close; the snitch wouldn't do anything that could kill them. Not if he knew what was good for him.

His movements slowed and his thoughts became sluggish as his consciousness started to slowly fade away. Vaguely he was aware that Kazuma had wrapped his arms around Nora's waist and a moment later hot air was forced down his throat. Where had that come from? Grateful for the air wherever it came from, Nora tried to open his eyes, he hadn't even realized he had closed them, but it was too late. He was already too far gone as the last strip of his consciousness flowed away like water.

Throwing up the nasty tasting water, Nora gulped in huge breaths of air as if he had been starved of it for too long, and if he remembered correctly he had been. Sitting up Nora took in his surroundings. He was in a forest, a very familiar forest full of oak and sycamore trees as well as the occasional blueberry bush. The sun shone brightly through the canopy of trees and birds sang their little tune as they flew through the trees. As far as he could tell he was alone. Well, almost. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I was just talking to Dahlia a second ago." Kazuma replied shaking the water from his short black hair and wringing out the excess from his blonde bangs.

Then that meant Dahlia was alive. Good. If she wasn't the he'd have to kick Kazuma's ass and that would be too much of a hassle. He was just about to tell Kazuma that the snitch was just with him when a kid slammed into a nearby tree. 'At least we're not the only ones here anymore.' Nora thought walking over and trying to get the kids attention. "Hey! Can you hear me! Helloooo…"

"I don't think he can see us." Kazuma said sticking his arm through the kid who appeared to only be projection. In the distance they heard another voice called out. Apparently the kids name was Kain, and looked like the Kain who was waiting on the Dark Liege all day and night, with his long dark hair and large wings on either side of his head. The kid was talking but Nora tuned him out as he was aware of another presence. Glancing up, Nora's eyes widened as he took in the newcomers words. "I'm the super demon, Cerberus! The strongest of them all!"

"No way. He's, he's a Cerberus! That means that boy was the previous Cerberus." They looked so much the same, they could be twins.

"Hey stray, look over there." Kazuma said pointing to two other boys who had showed up. One boy was wearing a bandana so you couldn't really see his face and the other boy had a black Mohawk and had a tattoo on his forehead. Who are these kids? They each had a golden eye which meant they came from the ancient races, but what importance do they have? Suddenly the scene changed and they were no longer standing in the forest but were floating over a river bed. "That must be Fall."

"Who's Fall?" Nora asked as he watched as the Cerberus appeared and made his way over to the boy with the long blonde hair and red tribal tattoos on his face. "You really need to pay attention. He's the last member of the ancient races and, judging by that sword, the future leader of the resistance."

"Well what the hell is he doing here? It doesn't look like he's all that sociable, no matter how hard the Cerberus is trying to make him so." As the small skirmish between the two settled the scene changed again. Now they were hovering above a vast field where the Cerberus and three members of the ancient races, this time as teenagers, were standing. With this scene they learned that it wasn't just ole uglies idea to send him to the human world and search for Dark Liege soul stones but he previous Dark Lieges as well. But why? What's the significance? A third scene change. They were still above the field but now there were six cloaked figures standing in a circle around the Cerberus.

"What's going on? Whose that standing next to the Dark Liege?" the old Dark Liege was talking but it was difficult to make out what he was saying since they were so high-up. It was something about the Cerberus had completed his training and they were going to transfer all his magical abilities to the chosen human. Once the transfer is over the Cerberus would disappear and die.

"The Cerberus is just a vessel for magical power?"

"A human inherits that power and becomes the next Dark Liege. That's why magical power started to permeate my body and I become able to control the stream." Kazuma said unbelieving of what that meant. "That means…that means I've been chosen to become the next Dark Liege."

It was clear that Fall wasn't thrilled with the news, he felt that he had been played. Challenging Deigree, the previous Cerberus, to a battle was proof of that. Nora was too preoccupied with what he learned earlier to pay much attention to what was happening but the moment  
Deigree was impaled on Falls sword it was he could do to not rush down there and intervene somehow.

"We have to help them!"

"This is only a vision, there is nothing we can do." Kazuma replied laying a soothing hand on Nora's shoulder. "Besides, I believe it's almost over." Looking down they watched as the members of the ancient races performed the ceremony, giving all of Deigree's power to the human, turning her into the next Dark Liege. They watched as Deigree disappeared and the new Dark Liege fell to her knees and cried for her loss only to stand back up and vow to protect the worlds in the name of her friend, and they watched as Fall laughed and made a vow of his own to destroy the new Cerberus and effectively both worlds.

"So how did you like the past?" Saleo asked returning them to the present. "speechless huh? It's not like it was your story. We decided to obey fate but Fall-are you alright Mr. Cerberus?" the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach had been slowly spreading throughout Nora's entire body ever since he learned that Deigree had been sent to the human world to be a familiar just as he, had finally taken hold as Nora swayed on his feet and would have collapsed onto the ground if Kazuma him and held Nora in his arms.

"Nora what's wrong?" Kazuma asked, concerned.

"I never believed in all that fate nonsense, if I were to do something it would be because I wanted to do it not because it was foretold. But this…this vision has just destroyed all that. What Deigree and ole ugly went through is exactly what we've done, and now…"

"We are nothing like them."

"Oh, of course we're not." Nora sneered pushing out of Kazuma's arms. "We ain't like them because by the time Deigree was ten he knew that he was gonna die so he never had a single thought of a future for himself while here I am at sixteen and I already have the perfect house picked out and it's full of kids but now that's all blown to hell because I finally learn that in, what six months? A year?, that I'm going to die. And I –" A choked sob prevented him from saying more and he turned away so they wouldn't see the tears streaming down his face.

"Nora." Kazuma whispered, gently placing his hands on Nora's shoulders. "Have you really been thinking about that?"

Nora nodded. "Demons can live for thousands of years so there isn't really a rush to settle down, but I've always wanted a family. When all this was over I was hoping I'd be able to settle down and start one. But who was I kidding? I'm not even a demon, I'm a freaking vessel! A fancy schmancy box built to hold enormous power until the day the one meant to wield comes along and I am to be destroyed. I was a fool to fall in love and hope for a future."

"You are a fool, but not for that." Kazuma replied turning Nora around.

"What are you-" Nora's words were cut off as Kazuma's lips covered his own. Six months later and every kiss felt like the first. Neither one of them was good at voicing their emotions but with every kiss, every joining of their bodies spoke everything. Words couldn't do justice to the love they had for each other. Ending the kiss far too soon, Kazuma gently cupped Nora's face in his hands and wiped away the last of Nora's tears.

"You are a fool if you believe our future is set in stone. There are many differences between their life and ours. There is no way in hell that I would let you die, especially now that I know you have dreamed of the same future as I have."

"Really? You're not just saying that, 'cause I don't think I can handle any more lies."

"Of course not, I mean every word. I have always had my future planned, I just haven't been able to finalize the most important part. Until now."

"Kazuma…." Fresh tears started to roll down Nora's cheeks, but they were happy tears. Kazuma was so confident, he made it sound that they could actually have a future.

"So you won't obey the dictates of fate? But if you remain as you are both worlds will be at stake." Saleo commented taking a swig of whiskey.

"We can't think about that right now? We need to figure out what the Dark Liege intentions are and make her answer our questions. In the meantime we can't be pawns in Falls game." Kazuma replied crossing his arms.

"Right! I ain't gonna let him ice ole ugly. I'm the one who's gonna take her down!" Nora shouted slamming his fist into his palm. 'That nickname doesn't really suite her. Her majesty is quite beautiful with her golden locks and killer body. Ah well, guess it's just his way of getting back at her for everything she's done to him.' Saleo thought. "Well then boys, I wish you the best of luck and look forward to watching your actions from now on." Another set of hand signs from Saleo and Nora and Kazuma were transported, yet again, to the city where they landed in the river.

"Damn that Saleo! He did it again!" Nora shouted as he resurfaced.

"Are we…are we in the past again." Kazuma asked.

"No. that tall tower you see in the distance is the Dark Liege armies headquarters. Old ugly designed it herself! This is the present!" Nora replied before heading for shore. They needed to reach ole ugly before Fall did. Nora needed to know what she was thinking back then. Who would willingly sacrifice their friend without even a second thought? They were powerful demons! There had to be another way to save everyone in the human and demon world without anybody dying. There just had to be! One way or the other he was going to find a way to survive and have the future he always dreamed of with the man he loved. He was a fighter, always had been. First he fought for his independence, then it was for his freedom, and now he was gonna fight to decide his own fate. He wasn't Deigree!

"Nora wait!" Kazuma shouted.

"What? We don't have time to stand around and chat."

"Well we'll make up for it. I just need to know if you're alright. I've never seen you so upset."

"Did you ever think that we'd end up here?" Nora asked half ignoring Kazuma's question.

"In the demon world fighting for our lives? Actually yeah, I did."

"No, I mean us. Did you ever imagine that we'd end up together if it wasn't for that night?"

"I'm not really sure. I only know that I was willing to pay anything to get stronger, didn't really think about doing it because I was in love."

"That's not it." The night Nora remembered falling in love was a couple of nights prior to Kazuma's disappearance. It was their first encounter with the leader of the resistance and he had forced Nora to transform into his true form, the much feared giant demon dog of hell complete with curled horns, a pair of frightening wings, and twin snakes for a tail. He would never admit it to anyone but that was one of the most frightening experiences of his life.

It felt like he was drowning, helpless as he watched as his body absorbed everyone's magical power and begin to go on a rampage. Just when he thought it was pointless to resist and to just let go he heard Kazuma's voice calling to him. Although Kazuma was mostly threatening Nora if he didn't pull it together it was somehow reassuring. It was just the thing Nora needed to take control of his body and transform back into his human form. He somehow managed to stagger out of the rubble and mumble a few words before collapsing into who he thought was Bajee's arms but was actually Kazuma's. That was the night he developed feelings for his human partner.

"Well whatever night you're talking about I'm glad it happened. I can't imagine my life any other way." Kazuma replied stroking Nora's cheek with the back of his fingers.

"Me too, I love how my life turned out." Nora said grabbing the front of Kazuma's shirt and bringing him in for a kiss. It was supposed to be short and sweet but like all their other kisses it became filled with raw passion as Kazuma let out a low growl and wrapped his arms around Nora's body, crushing him to Kazuma's chest.

There needed to be more moments like this. Whether they found a new path in time before the worlds turned to rubble, it didn't matter. As long as he had Kazuma by his side they would continue to fight until the end. He would not share Deigree's fate. And that was the absolute truth.


End file.
